The Lion King 4: A New Beginning Chapter 2: Hunting
by LionStory
Summary: Hey, everybody! So, in this cahpter, we meet two of the other adolescent lions in the Pride, and the Princess goes on her first hunting trip alone. Wish her good luck, and enjoy! Don't forget to review after you read.
1. Chapter 1

It had been several days since Sumini had been on patrol with Kovu. Sumini was lying at the very top of Pride Rock. The wind was up, and leaves drifted past her face as she thought about the dream. She knew the white lion was Roka, but she wanted to know why she was dreaming about him.

Sumini never dwelled on things, and certainly not for a years at a time.

She eventually left her perch to find her mother, Kiara. On the way, she spotted Vitani hunting a herd of kudu in the long grass. The kudu had three white stripes down their sides. _Like me, only their's aren't_ _brown,_ she thought.

Vitani's lithe body was crouched in pouncing position. As she prepared to leap for the kill, the wind picked up, and carried her scent to the kudu. Their almond eye's widened, and they started running toward the river.

Vitani snarled in disappointment. Sumini marveled at the way that the dark lioness could hunt without help. She continued down Pride Rock.

She found Kiara in the sun, watching Tendai and Ingwenya play. They were wrestling, tumbling over each other like the currents Sumini sometimes saw in the river.

"Hey there, Sumini. What're you doing?" asked Kiara. "Finding you, Mom," answered Sumini.

"I wanted to ask if I'm old enough to go on my hunting test solo," asked Sumini. "You helped me, remember? And I've been practicing on my own, too," she added hopefully. "OK, Sumini, you can take it with Raini and Flash," decided Kiara. Sumini gulped.

Raini was a silver-gray adolescent who had been born a year after Sumini. She was a nice enough, but she seemed to care more about gossip and attracting boys. She wasn't the one Sumini was worried about.

_Flash, _she thought. Flash was a young lion, with a brown mane and light blue eyes that always seemed to be filled with lightning. Sumini's heart always began to drum like a gazelle's hooves when he was around. He was so handsome and funny, making jokes and lightening the mood. Sumini found herself saying the dumbest things around him. It was like a curse.

Everyone liked Flash, even the older lionesses that had mates. He was the son of a lioness named Ema, who had died having him, and his dad was anyone's guess. He was a good guy, though.

But...them on a solo test? Sumini knew that each lion taking the test watched the others be assesed. With Flash there, she wasn't sure she could do it.

"Uhh, Mom, it's a _solo _test," Sumini said, hoping her mom would change her mind, and let her take the test without other adolescent.

"I _know _that, Sumini. You don't have to hunt together. You'll go first."

Days later, Raini nervously walked toward where the Pride was meeting to watch the young lionesses hunt. She hoped Flash was watching.

Raini had always admired him, but whenever she and Sumini were together somewhere, his attention always seemed focused on her. She had tried getting his attention, but he had brushed her off like a bee in front of a butterfly.

_Today,_ she thought, _that all changes. I'll do so well that he won't be able to take his eyes off me!_ That put a spring in her step, and, nervousness gone, she strode confidently toward Flash... only to trip over his paws. She looked up into his lightning eyes, and cleverly said," Uhhhh, hi."

"Hey, Raini," he greeted her. "_Falling over_ yourself to get to your test?" he asked. Raini laughed. _Oh my gosh, his voice has gotten so mature, _she thought. Flash grinned.

Sumini came along. 'Hi, guys," she said. Her voice shook slightly, betraying fear. Immediately, Flash's attention was drawn away from Raini. The silver lioness growled. After today, Flash would be hers!

Flash opened his mouth to talk, but just then Kovu roared. "We have gathered," he began. "Well, duh," muttered Flash under his breath.

"To asess three of our young lions," he continued.

"They will be tested in hunting skills, and if they pass the test, they will be allowed to hunt with our elite group of huntresses." Kovu nodded toward a group of lionesses who were sitting together. Nala, Kiara, and Vitani were among them.

"Or, if they don't want to join the elite group, they may become a solo hunter," he went on.

"But be warned, if you choose to become a solo hunter, you will not have comrades to help you bring down larger prey like buffalo and antelope. You will be alone when you hunt," the Pride's king said gravely.

The three young adolescents who were being asessed had wide eyes.

_Solo, _thought Sumini.

_Group, _decided Raini.

_Whatever the girls do, _thought Flash.

Kovu started speaking again, cutting off their threads of thought. "Raini, Sumini, Flash," asked Kovu. "Do you know what you have to do?" Sumini was expecting them to answer _Yes _firmly and loudly in front of the whole Pride, but instead they all stammered," Yeah, sure, yeah, ok."

"We will begin with Raini, daughter of Kisha," said Kovu.

Kisha was a lioness the color of the sky at dawn. Her green eyes shone with pride as her daughter loped awkwardly into the long grass.

Several hours later, she returned with a small gazelle. Though it was small, it had clearly been young, strong, and fast, demonstrating Raini's speed and skill.

"Flash, you're up," announced Kovu. "Good luck," he added as Flash strode confidentely away.

When the young lion returned, he was dragging a buffalo calf, maybe six months old.

Sumini was frantically thinking. _Buffalo are hard to bring down, and gazelle are really quick, _she thought. _How am I going to top their catches? I'm the princess, they expect me to be above average. _

But she had no more time to think, because her father was calling her name to go out and hunt.

"You can do it," whispered Flash as she walked by. Sumini couldn't answer him. She wobbled past her mother and grandmother, who both hissed words of encouragement to her. She staggered out of the clearing and into the grass, and only stopped when she was well away. Then she tried to remember the things her mom and dad had taught her.

_Stay downwind of your target, _her dad had told her. _Never lose your focus, and be sure to look before you step, _had been her mother's advice.

Then she thought about her training with Vitani, and how she had taught her the sneaking technique that was for bringing down the desert elephants the the former Outlanders hunted.

_Would it work on ordianry elephant calves?_ Sumini wondered.

A herd of elephants was stomping through a marsh, bellowing. Behind trailed a calf. Sumini watched him for a while.

He seemed to wander farther and farther from his herd, always going to look at some flower or animal. The princess crept closer. Then, she charged. In the end, it was all a blur. She launched herself at the calf, going for his trunk, both to cut off his breathing, and to stopped him from calling to his herd. The young calf never had a chance.

Sumini went for the spots she knew killed fastest. A few minutes later, he was dead. Without making a sound. Sumini realized that she couldn't drag home an elephant calf.

She sprinted to the clearing where everyone had gathered. Bursting through the grass, she accidentely knocked over her mother. "Sorry Mom," she gasped. "I killed an elephant calf, but I can't bring him here on my own. Can you help me?" she asked.

Everyone's face wore a look of shock. Raini's mouth kept opening and closing like a fish's. Her mom and dad looked proud and overwhelmed.

Flash was the only one to move. He strode over to the Princess and gave a pat on the back so hard that she almost fell over.

This seemed to bring everyone back to life.

"Yes, of course, honey," replied Kovu. "Great, I'll take you to him," said Sumini. The gravity of what she'd done hit her. She, a lone lioness, inexperienced and young, had killed an _elephant_ on her first hunting mission. That was almost amazing. She led the Pride out of the clearing, and to the spot where her kill lay.

But someone had found it first.


	2. Love Trouble

As Sumini came within sight of her prey, she discovered that it was being feasted on by a hoard of leopards. The spotted cats were tearing off chunks of flesh and ruining the kill.

A hot rage took hold of Sumini. That was _her_ kill, that she had brought down by herself. The leopards had no right to destroy it!

The princess leapt forward, eyes flashing. As she landed. the leopards scattered, snarling. A few retaliated, but were soon driven off. Kovu managed to calm his daughter down. "It's ok, it's ok, honey," he soothed.

Flash roared after the leopards. "Those upstarts! Didn't you mark the elephant calf with a scent, Sumini?"

"Well...no," she admitted. _That's like hunting 101! _thought Raini triumphantly. The gray lioness was gloating over this apparent victory, when Kiara said," Sumini, this was your solo test, and it's ok to make mistakes the first time round. But practice makes permanent, and no one wants repeat mistakes. Let's go home."

Kovu led the way back to Pride Rock. Sumini followed last of all, hanging her head sadly. "You'll get better," whispered Vitani. "They're not angry with you."

Within the farthest reach of sight from Pride Rock there was a clump of acacia trees. Concealed not too well in the branches as a young adolescent lion, his white coat reflecting the stripes of color in the sunset.

The white lion leapt down from his vantage point, and prodded the sleeping form of a lioness. She opened her eyes, which were the hue of wet ivy. "Ivi, wake up. She killed an elephant!"

"That's great, Roka. But you should stop waking me up!" groused Ivi.

"Sorry. She's just so...awesome! Sumini, I mean" said Roka.

"But what about me? Aren't I awesome?" pouted Ivi, with a hint of jealousy. "Of course you're awesome," replied Roka.

"I just like the princess. She's exotic and beautiful."

Ivi was a little put down, but she decided t let it go. "Come on," she whispered. "Let's hunt."

The white lion and his companion spent the rest of the night hunting dik-dik, small deer with large eyes. Ivi brought down two, and Roka one. They ate their prey a in a moonlit glen. After stuffing themselves, they lay down to watch the sun rise. Ivi was thinking, _Why can't Roka see that I love him? Why does he like a lioness he's never even met so much? I saved his life! Isn't he grateful? _

Ivi had rescued Roka as a cub. She and her desert Pride had been on the move, following a herd of oryx over the dunes, when Ivi had spotted a gleam of pearly white in the distance that she thought was a rock. The young cub had gone to explore. As she neared the white thing, she noticed that it was a lion cub, seemingly dead.

Ivi had lugged him back to her mother, the pride's queen, Nhzinga.

Nhzinga decided to raise him, because white lions are rare, and supposedly good luck.

The only thing the white cub remembered was his name, Roka. Years after they found him, a sickness had struck the pride, killing all but Roka and Ivi, who had set out together across the desert, eventually coming to the Pridelands, where Roka had discovered Princess Sumini.

He had been moonstruck by her beautiful and unusual coloring, especially her stripes.

After he first told Ivi about Sumini and his feelings toward her, she had begun to grow jealous. It was, after all, because of _her_ that he was alive.

The green-eyed lioness sighed, looking at the sun rising over Pride Rock. _Somehow, _she silently swore, _I'll get him to see that I am the one for him._

Back at Pride Rock, Flash was having his own love troubles. He liked both Raini and Sumini. But which one was the better one for him?

He tried to weigh both against the other, but only came out equal.

He sighed. Maybe this could be decided tomorrow. He tried rolling over, sleeping on his stomach, and getting a drink.

Nothing worked. Raini and Sumini's faces kept running through his mind.

Finally he decided to take a little walk, not knowing where it would lead him.


	3. Chapter 3

As dawn rose from the east the next morning, Sumini noticed Flashs's absence with a hint of concern. But she shrugged it off.

He was probably fine. Raini wasn't. She was lying on her side and moaning.

"Raini? You ok?" asked Sumini. "No, I feel like someone sliced me down the stomach," wheezed the silvery lioness.

"Kisha? Somthing's wrong with Raini!" called Sumini.

Kisha padded over to have a look.

"How do you feel, honey? Sick? Is your head hurting?"

Raini just groaned.

Several hours later, Rafiki knew what was wrong.

"She has the waterfever," he announced grimly.

Everyone in the cave gasped. They all remembered the horrible waterfever that had claimed the sight of a young cub two years ago.

The fever had been the result of poisoned water in the north waterhole.

The young cub had died when he had walked off a cliff, despite the warnings of his playmates.

Kisha looked about to scream.

She pulled herself together and asked," Is there anything you or we can do for her?"

"Der is a special plant," he began. "It is called de rooibos plant. Another mandrill told me that one in his troop had waterfever, and they cured it with rooibos.

I will try to find dis plant. Until then, please keep Raini hydrated, and get her to tell you which waterhole she drank from last."

With that, Rafiki loped off into the darkness, all their hope riding with him.

Sumini went back to the sick cave, where they had moved Raini.

"Ok, Raini, which waterhole did you drink from last?" she asked urgently. "Um, let me think...it was the with the boulder, south side," Raini gasped.

Sumini went and told her father.

Kovu then strode out the the top of Pride Rock and roared, summoning every member of the tribe to attention. Ingweny and Tendai sat down next to their sister as Kovu began to speak.

"I have some bad news. Raini, Kisha's daughter, has waterfever, which, as you may remember took the sight of the cub Nashu a few years ago.

Luckily,waterfever is not contagious. Rafiki has instructed us to keep Raini hydrated until he returns with the plant that can heal her. That is all."

Ingweny and Tendai's eyes were huge when their father stopped speaking.

"Who was Nashu?" they asked Sumini.

Sumini tried to remember. All she could come up with was an image of a optimistic peach coloured cub with blue eyes. He had played with Sumini a lot.

"He was a good cub," she said. "You would have liked him."


	4. Chapter 4

As dawn rose from the east the next morning, Sumini noticed Flashs's absence with a hint of concern. But she shrugged it off.

He was probably fine. Raini wasn't. She was lying on her side and moaning.

"Raini? You ok?" asked Sumini. "No, I feel like someone sliced me down the stomach," wheezed the silvery lioness.

"Kisha? Somthing's wrong with Raini!" called Sumini.

Kisha padded over to have a look.

"How do you feel, honey? Sick? Is your head hurting?"

Raini just groaned.

Several hours later, Rafiki knew what was wrong.

"She has the waterfever," he announced grimly.

Everyone in the cave gasped. They all remembered the horrible waterfever that had claimed the sight of a young cub two years ago.

The fever had been the result of poisoned water in the north waterhole.

The young cub had died when he had walked off a cliff, despite the warnings of his playmates.

Kisha looked about to scream.

She pulled herself together and asked," Is there anything you or we can do for her?"

"Der is a special plant," he began. "It is called de rooibos plant. Another mandrill told me that one in his troop had waterfever, and they cured it with rooibos.

I will try to find dis plant. Until then, please keep Raini hydrated, and get her to tell you which waterhole she drank from last."

With that, Rafiki loped off into the darkness, all their hope riding with him.

Sumini went back to the sick cave, where they had moved Raini.

"Ok, Raini, which waterhole did you drink from last?" she asked urgently. "Um, let me think...it was the with the boulder, south side," Raini gasped.

Sumini went and told her father.

Kovu then strode out the the top of Pride Rock and roared, summoning every member of the tribe to attention. Ingweny and Tendai sat down next to their sister as Kovu began to speak.

"I have some bad news. Raini, Kisha's daughter, has waterfever, which, as you may remember took the sight of the cub Nashu a few years ago.

Luckily,waterfever is not contagious. Rafiki has instructed us to keep Raini hydrated until he returns with the plant that can heal her. That is all."

Ingweny and Tendai's eyes were huge when their father stopped speaking.

"Who was Nashu?" they asked Sumini.

Sumini tried to remember. All she could come up with was an image of a optimistic peach coloured cub with blue eyes. He had played with Sumini a lot.

"He was a good cub," she said. "You would have liked him."

She left her brothers to wonder about Nashu, and went to the sick cave. Raini was there. Her eyes had become milky blue, and she was shaking violently. "Sumini," she whispered. "What's happening to me?"

"Um, Raini, dont freak out. Please. You have...waterfever."

Raini's milky eyes widened. Her tail lashed back and forth.

"No, no, nop, no, no, no, no! No, I can't! I'm gonna die!, Sumini, help me!" she screamed.

The princess was bewildered. She had never seen anyone act like this, not even when her mother was giving birth to her brothers.

"Raini, calm down! Rafiki says there's a plant called roobois that can heal you! You're not gonna die!"

Screaming seemed to work, as Raini's breathing slowed down, and her head cleared up. "Sorry for hyperventilating, I just don't want to be blind," apologized the gray adolescent.

"Don't be sorry, just rest. Rafiki says to keep you hydrated, so I'm gonna soak some moss balls in water and bring them to you. Ok?" asked Sumini.

"Yeah, ok," agreed Raini. "I'll just wait here."

Sumini padded out of the cave. She knew not to visit the poisoned south waterhole, she she headed to the north one. On the way, she noticed that many of the Pride had terse expressions.

Reaching the waterhole, she noticed a shape moving in the grass. Instantly the princess was on alert, crouching down, and slinking through the grass toward the shape. From the scent, it was a lion, young, without a pride.

Sumini got ready to leap. _Ok, when the opponene tis bigger than you, you have to be faster, _she thought.

She counted to three, then leapt at the young lion, snarling.

Her target had no warning. Sumini saw his ember-colored eyes open wide as she landed on his back. As she sunk in her claws, he let out a howl of pain. To the princess' suprise, her simply flattened to the ground in surrender.

That's when Sumini noticed. His fur was totally _white._


End file.
